Rowing in Eden (Berkeley Signature Edition) [Paperback]

Barbara Rogan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998 | Series: Berkeley Signature Edition

Although she had begged him to do it, Sam Pollak sometimes regretted freeing his wife from the cancer that was slowly destroying her.

Now, a determined young woman and her four troubled foster children have moved into Old Wickham. They will bring conflict and hostility to the picturesque town.

And they will bring an unsettling new relationship into Sam Pollak's life...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cancer-ravaged Louise Pollak dies wordlessly on the first page of Rogan's fifth book, her demise facilitated by her loving husband, Sam. She is nonetheless heard loud and clear to the last page of this romance-cum-morality tale. Her voice is kept alive by messengers to the Pollaks' farmhouse in the upstate New York town of Old Wickham. The first such messengers to arrive, moments after Lou's death, are gutsy urban transplant Jane Goncalves and Peter, her bristly but appealing 14-year-old foster son. Jane works at the local bookshop, and she has brought a book that Lou had ordered-Emily Dickinson's poems. There Sam finds what he believes to be Lou's parting message. "Rowing in Eden!/ Ah, the Sea!/ Might I but moor/ Tonight in thee!" We feel Sam's hopeless longing, but we know the messenger is also a message from Lou; inevitably, Sam will want to moor in Jane-and his wife would cheer him on. Just as surely, he will have to save a life to pay the karmic debt incurred by killing Lou, no matter that she'd made him promise to do so. Rogan (A Heartbeat Away) delivers action and subplot. Jane has two other foster kids besides Peter; and when arson strikes their home, it's a good bet the blaze is a reflection of how heartily they're unwelcome by the clannish villagers of Old Wickam. Unfortunately, Lou is the one character who really talks; the rest send telegrams. Among the blatant (and stereotyped) messengers: Malachi, the kvetchy mystical defrocked rabbi; Portia, the streetwise black social worker; and Moses the Mutt, who leads Sam to the Promised Land.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The village of Old Wickham becomes less serene as conflicts develop among its diverse inhabitants: carpenter Sam Pollack, who killed his cancer-ravaged wife; feisty Jane Goncalves, who is raising several foster children; Peter, the eldest child, abused and brilliant, who trusts no one; and the village firefighters, battling an arsonist. Rogan's (A Heartbeat Away, LJ 4/1/93) heartwarming tale of guilt, redemption, new beginnings, and burgeoning relationships growing out of disasters makes us marvel at her ability to see so well into the souls of her troubled characters. Highly recommended.?Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425164586
• ISBN-13: 978-0425164587
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,787,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Apart from short stints as a horse wrangler and park ranger, Barbara Rogan has spent her entire career in the publishing industry: as an editor, a literary agent, a writer and a teacher. After graduating with a degree in liberal arts from St. John's College, she went to work as a copy editor with a major New York publishing house. Within a year, she fulfilled a long-held intention by moving to Israel, where she became the English-language editor of a Tel Aviv publishing house. Shortly thereafter, she launched the Barbara Rogan Literary Agency to represent American and European publishers and agents for the sale of Hebrew rights. Among the thousands of writers she represented were Nadine Gordimer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Abba Eban, Irwin Shaw, John LeCarre, and her childhood favorite, Madeleine L'Engle. At the age of 26, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Jerusalem Book Fair, the youngest director ever to serve on the board. During this period her first novel, CHANGING STATES, was published simultaneously in England, the U.S., and Israel.

For several years Barbara continued to write and run the agency, but eventually felt compelled to choose between her two occupations. She loved the agency she'd founded and the exciting life that went with it, but writing was her passion. Making a radical break, she sold the agency and returned to New York. Since then she has produced seven more novels, including Hindsight, Suspicion, and Rowing in Eden. Her publishers include Simon & Schuster, Morrow, and Doubleday, and her fiction has been translated widely and graciously reviewed. About SUSPICION, The Washington Post wrote, "If you can put this book down before you've finished it, it's possible that your heart may have stopped beating." "What Bonfire of the Vanities tried to be," Library Journal wrote of SAVING GRACE; and CAFÉ NEVO was called "unforgettable" by the San Francisco Chronicle and "an inspired, passionate work of fiction, a near-magical novel" by Kirkus Review. Barbara also co-authored two non-fiction books, published by Crown and Harcourt Brace, and contributed essays to several published anthologies. To read more about Barbara's work, visit her website: www.barbararogan.com; and don't forget to sample the coffee in the Writers' Lounge.

Barbara taught fiction writing at Hofstra University and SUNY Farmingdale for several years before trading her brick-and-mortar classroom for a virtual one. Her online courses and editing services are described on her teaching website, www.nextlevelworkshop.com. As a professional whose experience spans all aspects of publishing, Barbara is a frequent presenter at writers' conferences, seminars, and retreats. She is currently working on a new novel and a non-fiction book on revising one's own fiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving Tale, July 8, 2004

By 

Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rowing in Eden (Hardcover)

Barbara Rogan paints an incisive portrait of life in small-town America, definitely not Norman Rockwell. Here are murderers, bigots, small-minded busybodies. Jane Goncalves and her foster children left the big city to escape these things, but find themselves embroiled in controversy and strife. Sam Rockwell exists in a shadowy purgatory of grief after losing his beloved wife to cancer. Sam and Jane come together in the face of adversity and form a deep bond, showing that the best families aren't necessarily related by blood.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A moving story of unlikely bonds formed by tragic events., January 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Rowing in Eden (Hardcover)

Rowing in Eden is an insightful look at small town americana
in the 1990's and of the darkness that lurks beneath the
the post card exterior of the seemingly ideal town of
Old Wickham. While parts of the story are predictable and
the villains are, at times, somewhat one dimensional, what
separates this story from others of its type are Rogan's rich
drawings of the three main characters and the separate tragedies
that unite them. Rowing in Eden is solemn, haunting, and yet a
strangely uplifting story about love and hate, death and living,
fear of the unknown, and bonds that form in adversity.Rowing
in Eden is not a triumph of the human spirit spirit, but
rather a testament to its perseverance. I strongly recommend
this book to fans of slice-of-life fiction.